The Big Short
Four denizens in the world of high-finance predict the credit and housing bubble collapse of the mid-2000s, and decide to take on the big banks for their greed and lack of foresight.
Cast
Christian Bale – Dr. Michael Burry
Ryan Gosling – Jared Vennett
Steve Carell – Mark Baum
Brad Pitt – Ben Rickert
John Magaro – Charlie Geller
Rafe Spall – Danny Moses
Jeremy Strong – Vinny Daniel
Finn Wittrock – Jamie Shipley
The Big Surprise
The Big Short.
A star-studded feature I expected to be overly modern and laddish, with forced irrelevant humour. Which turned out to be one of the best movies of 2016 I’ve seen so far. Yes I know it’s only the beginning of February, but hey – it emphasizes my point.
I sat back and enjoyed this movie heartily; its dry yet wonderfully honest humour radiating from every angle. And I wasn’t the only one – much of the audience were laughing out loud during the funnier scenes, mainly due to the observant comedy coming from single lines spoken. Mirroring the style of a documentary, director Adam McKay ensures up-close and personal camerawork which focuses on each character as he – and she – leads the scene. Although slightly shaky at points, it adds an air of realism and kept me as a viewer interested in the information Jared, Michael et al were throwing at the audience.
Added to this element were cameos from some really random celebrities, including Margot Robbie.
During The Big Short when a certain character is talking the viewer through a situation, he breaks away from the entire feature by announcing the appearance of a cameo celeb; for example, “..here’s Selena Gomez to explain what fraud is”. The movie then cuts to Selena sat round a table in a casino, giving the explanation as she takes part in the game of Roulette she’s sat in front of.
It was fantastic, a very original twist in the movie’s structure and the delivery of all cameos made for very entertaining watching. Especially Margot Robbie who was laying in a bubble bath holding a flute of Champagne (if I was straight I would’ve been foaming at the mouth. And penis).
Points scored here.
Clueless Market
I’ll be honest – when it comes to the housing market, the stock market, and all other heavily financial markets which usually see a bunch of red-faced men screaming at flitting screens, I have absolutely no idea. And literally do not care either. I don’t care how obsessed with money the men are or how the market can fluctuate massively at any opportunity. It means nothing. Which is why I was surprised at how interested I was in the story of The Big Short as the movie progressed. The style of how the actors delivered it all certainly helped; I sat smiling as I absorbed details about the mortgage market brought to me with slick witty lines and scenes which involved some great comedic timing. And for once I was actually interested.
Strong and Spall lend to the production nicely – the pair are very convincing at portraying smart and slightly naive businessmen, with some great facial expressions.
The Big Short could have been real boring. It contains scenes set in huge offices and on trading room floors, not the most vibrant of settings. But although bursting with these dull, almost monotone Wall Street elements, director Adam McKay works his magic and coughs up a production both entertaining and very funny. These sorts of movies (I remember seeing a few in the 80’s) normally bore the shit out of me. They are financial jargon practically spoken in a different language, not helped by the vision of men in grey suits strolling around red-faced and shouty.
Vastly different this time round.
I enjoyed this movie highly and would reccommend it to both people involved in ‘the business’ and those who have no idea about it. What a great watch.
Ricky's Film Reviews 